March 07, 2004

The annual meeting of the International Council of Certified Accountants and Auditors (ICCAA)

The annual meeting of the International Council of Certified Accountants and Auditors (ICCAA) held in late January, 2004 resulted in several key decisions made that concerned further promotion, adoption and application of the international practice and standards of accounting and auditing on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The CIPA Program is the first and still the only Russian-language professional certification program for accountants and auditors based on the world practice and experience and educational and examination standards. In addition, the ICCAA has voted for continuation of establishment of contact with the international accounting and auditing organizations by creating the Advisory Board. Certain prominent international organizations agreed to participate. The ICCAA meeting was followed by the conference on accounting reform in Russia during which several Russian organizations backed the CIPA Program.

The ICCAA's most important decision regarding the CIPA Program included the official adoption of the final parts of the Certified International Professional Accountant Program, namely the basic principles of content of the Management Information Systems (MIS) course of CIPA Program and its exam format. Additionally, ICCAA adopted changes in the basic principles of the Managerial Accounting I course (MA1) and Managerial Accounting II (MA2). The changes to MA1 were based on the special managerial accounting toolkit that contained techniques that an accountant could use to improve an enterprise's efficiency and profitability.

The ICCAA also adopted a new differentiated system of exam grading. Starting mid 2004 the passing score for all courses except MIS will be set at 75 and will be differentiated in order to ensure the appropriate level of complexity and requirements for each exam. As a result of this reform, there will be only one uniform passing score for the Tax and Law exam that will allow a participant to qualify for both Certified Accounting Practitioner (CAP) and Certified International Professional Accountant (CIPA). The introduction of the uniform passing score (75) for CAP level will be comparable to the 50% mark required earlier and doesn't mean that the exams will become more difficult. The transition from the percentage-based grading system to the differentiated one only means that the degree of complexity of each exam and the level of knowledge to pass it will be comparable and corresponding.

Another important step undertaken by the ICCAA members was the vote on creation of the Advisory Board that will include representatives of international accounting and auditing organizations. Among the organization represented at the meeting that agreed to participate in the Board's affairs were the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the world body on management of accounting, the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCF) that facilitates publication of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) through the IASC Board, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), CGA, KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Center for International Accounting Education and the National Organization for Accounting and Reporting (NOFAR).

Among other decisions made at the ICCAA meetings was the decision to introduce membership fees for ICCAA members and fees for CAP and CIPA certificate issuance to support the ICCAA funding. The meeting also saw the first certificate award ceremony in Russia for ten CAPs of the Institute Professional Accountants of Russian Federation. To date three Russian professional organizations have expressed their desire to join ICCAA and support the CIPA Program.

Another solemn moment included introduction of a new ICCAA member - Association of Professional Accountants and Auditors of Moldova.

The day after the ICCAA meeting there was a special congress held dedicated to accounting reform in Russia. The sponsors of the congress were Securities Commission of Russian Federation, KPMG and the USAID-funded CIPA Promotion Project in Russia. At the congress key Russian institutes noted the importance of CIPA Program for support of accounting reform in Russia.

During the ICCAA meeting several participants representing the international accounting organizations delivered speeches. In her speech, Susan Jones, the representative of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) discussed the AICPA's potential role in CIPA Program. Goran Tiedstroem, the member of the IFAC Board of Directors, presented IFAC's vision of accounting globalization and noted that IFAC current reforms' objective is to bridge the gaps among the world's accounting and auditing standards.

ICCAA is a regional association of professional accounting and auditing organizations that is currently represented by the unions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Ukraine. One of the ICCAA's goals is to support and implement the CIPA Program on the territory of former Soviet Union. To achieve that goal it is necessary to expand the CIPA Program to Russia that represents one of the most developed countries of the former Soviet Union which was one of the main reasons for holding the winter congress of ICCAA in Russia.

ICCAA was founded with assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to unite the associations of the former Soviet Union republics and run certification by offering uniform professional examinations based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and establishing educational and professional requirements on the basis of standards, principles, practices and ethics of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

To sum up the results of the congress held, it is worthwhile to note the growing interest for the CIPA Program not only on part of the program participants but also on part of the international accounting and auditing organizations which creates a foundation for further development and expansion of the CIPA Program.

The Delegates were greeted with a speech of welcome given by

Alexandria Panehal, USAID/Kyiv Deputy mission Director

Valentina Balitska, The President's Administration, Deputy Chief of Central Administrative board of Economic Policy

Valeriy Parhomenko, Ministry of Finance, Chief of Department of Accounting Methodology, Deputy Chief of Accounting Methodology Board, Member of UFPAA Board

Eugen Grygorenko, State Property Fund, First Deputy Head

Following speakers presented the principal reports:

Olena Velichko, Securities and Stock Market State Commission

Gerry Parfitt, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Senior Partner - Ukraine

Barry Pitts, Chief of Party CIPA-Ukraine Project, Chemonics Inc.

Rick Gurley, US Agency for International Development.

Vladimir Bogatsky, Chief Accountant, Ukraine International Airlines

Sergey Prilipko, Head of the UFPAA Board

Sergiy Golov, МІМ - Kiev, Head of UFPAA Standards and Practices Committee, Head of Accounting Chair

The press conference was held with the participation of 19 Mass Media representatives.

The conference generated so many new ideas and the delegates left with much still to discuss.